


everlasting

by dustandstatic



Category: Hades (Video Game 2018)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Romance, Symbolism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:49:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,169
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28316289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dustandstatic/pseuds/dustandstatic
Summary: Perhaps his struggles haves something to do with that 'love language' thing Zagreus mentions at times. Maybe it will be easier for Thanatos to tell Zagreus how he feels through a gift, or three. At least that won't require words.
Relationships: Thanatos/Zagreus (Hades Video Game)
Comments: 27
Kudos: 353





	everlasting

Thanatos loves Zagreus.

After the gaggle of miscommunications that characterize their courtship, Thanatos can now trust Zagreus knows as much. Zagreus can trust in him too, of course, but… That alone doesn't seem enough. He glances over the ambrosia bottles sitting neatly lined up and dust-free on a shelf in his chambers. Each and every one of them a symbol of Zagreus' love and while he knows reciprocation isn't required, Thanatos still longs to give something in return. 

Something with a bit less weight than a keepsake, or a companion. Something just because, and preferably enough of it to make Zagreus worry about where he is going to keep it all. (Gods know Thanatos has had to reorganize his belongings once or twice simply to make space for Zagreus' tokens of affection. _Why don't you just drink them?_ Zagreus would ask, to which Thanatos would say no. Never.)

Zagreus never asks for anything more than a kiss before he leaves. This is something Thanatos can provide, albeit reluctantly at times, as every single kiss they share threatens to burst the dam of his heart, leaving Zagreus to drown in an ocean of love Thanatos doesn't quite know how to express. He wants to hold him, keep him, cherish him, litter him in love-bites and bury him in affection: but every time he opens his mouth, all he manages is a choked-out _take care_ which then embarrasses him to the point of fleeing the scene. 

Perhaps his struggles haves something to do with that 'love language' thing Zagreus mentions at times. Maybe it will be easier for Thanatos to tell Zagreus how he feels through a gift, or three. At least that won't require words.

He should have known better. Troubled, Thanatos stares at the mess of dead flowers he gathered on his desk. They didn't even go through the process of decay: they simply became devoid of life the moment Thanatos touched their petals. Dried out into rough edges and desaturation, they are a ghost of what they were before. 

It's a rather depressing sight. He can't give these to Zagreus. Good intentions only excuse so much. Thanatos sighs. The flowers that occasionally grow in Elysium might not wither at his touch, but he can't very well present Zagreus with something so mundane. Zagreus brought him _ambrosia_. Drink of the divine, valuable beyond any currency (though Charon might disagree).

And all Thanatos has to offer in return is death, just about the one thing of which Zagreus has plenty. Death and chaise lounges.

A delicate knock on the door coaxes him from his thoughts. The misty yet piercing voice of his mother follows: "Are you here, child?"

"Yes, come in," Thanatos answers.

Nyx enters the room, her attention immediately drawn to the collection of dead flowers in place of Thanatos' usual books and scrolls. Thanatos can't help but feel somewhat caught as Nyx' endless eyes survey his desk.

"Is something wrong," he asks, hoping to distract her from the floral debris.

"I simply wished to see how you were doing," she says, "as you have kept yourself locked in here for quite some time."

"There's no need for concern," Thanatos says. "I've just been, rather busy."

"Indeed," Nyx echoes with a curious tilt of her head, and oh, she knows. How come she always _knows_. 

"It's nothing," Thanatos answers before she can ask, brushing the crispy pile of petals and leaves together between his hands, only for them to crumble and scatter even further.

Nyx is silent for a moment, watching as Thanatos brushes the dust off his hands with a defeated look on his face.

"Flowers are a most thoughtful gift," she then comments.

She definitely knows, though in hindsight it was foolish to think he could hide anything from his mother. May as well cease pretending, then. "Should they not waste away the instant I attempt to gather them, yes," Thanatos sighs. 

"Death need not steal beauty, child," Nyx tells him. 

Thanatos frowns. She can't mean to suggest he should gift Zagreus dead flowers, can she? Yet Nyx does not elaborate on her rather cryptic words and instead turns to take her leave, seemingly satisfied with what she found.

"Good luck," she says, leaving Thanatos alone with his many thoughts, and more flowers.

While his mother isn't the type to use her words on messages without meaning, Thanatos can't help but feel like she just doesn't understand his predicament. Surely she wouldn't want to present Zagreus with dried up flowers, especially not considering the flowers Zagreus had installed for _her_ are vibrant with color and life.

But realistically, Thanatos is starting to run out of options. At this point he needs to either abandon the idea entirely and think of something else, or try and make the best of what he's got. He observes his collection of flowers once more. Some of them aren't entirely grey, and others still seem to have some of their scent. Odd creatures, these little plants are, for them to still present signs of life so long after dying, in the realm of the dead no less. It reminds him of a certain someone.

Death need not steal beauty. Thanatos replays his mother's words as if he's hearing them for the first time. Something warm blooms in his chest as he comes to understand what she meant.

He shifts off to the surface without delay.

*

Zagreus, wide-eyed and surprised into silence, carefully takes the delicate little vase from Thanatos' hands. Thanatos can't stop shifting his weight from one foot to another, an impressive feat considering he isn't even touching the ground. Swarms of butterflies plague the space below his heart.

"It's beautiful," Zagreus near-whispers, as if his voice could cause the flower to come apart. "I've never seen a flower like this before…"

And Thanatos, dizzy with Zagreus' adoring eyes, almost forgets to speak. "Mortals call it a strawflower," he tells him.

To think there was actually a flower out there that wears death as beautifully as it wears life. Perhaps even better, as these colors, these fragrances wrapped in pretty papery leaves will last forever, past perishable, fleeting things such as life. Thanatos couldn't think of a better gift to represent his feelings. Everlastingly in bloom.

"I love it," Zagreus decides, stroking his thumb across the smooth surface of the vase. Then he looks up at Thanatos and smiles, a heart-melting beam of sunshine. "Thank you, Thanatos."

Thanatos wants to say so many things. Things no words, nor presents could ever convey. Instead, he carefully takes the vase from Zagreus' hands and momentarily sets it aside. When he turns back around Zagreus has moved closer. Thanatos takes his smiling face in both hands and Zagreus' eyes lid slightly, staring up at him as if he's all that exists in all three worlds, comforting yet all-consuming, soft yet intense.

And rather than speaking, Thanatos kisses the words _I love you_ onto Zagreus' lips until they can't do anything but say it back.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> "[Strawflowers] are flowers that retain their form, shape and color when dried, offering their beauty beyond the experience of one growing season, after the other flowers have faded and died. [The strawflower] represents immortality." [(source)](https://www.atozflowers.com/flower/xerochrysum/)
> 
> and a [song to go with it](https://open.spotify.com/album/3dxbBloSBjw2C9uiVKm5tD), too 
> 
> this little fic is my gift to you, with all my best wishes for this season and the next.


End file.
